34) Ready to Return

                                    

                                          
[Author's Note:
                          
{5.20.2013} Edited through this chapter for errors
                          
X-Men Characters in this Chapter: Professor X (Charles Xavior), and Beast (Hank McCoy)
                          
OCs: Panther (Emery) and Chet.]
                          
The Professor answered the phone in his office at ten o'clock that night.
                          
"Hello, Charles Xavier speaking, can I help you?"
                          
"Professor? It's Emery..."
                          
"Emery, good to hear your voice. Are you okay?"
                          
"I'm fine. I just, I'm ready to come home... and I don't exactly have a way to do that. Would you send someone to come get me?"
                          
"Of course. I'll send Kurt..."
                          
"No! I mean... I'm not ready to face him. I just... I don't want to sleep in the park. It's how my problems started... before you rescued me. Could you send Ororo or Dr. McCoy?"
                          
"I think Dr. McCoy is still awake. I'll use Cerebo to send your coordinates to his GPS. So do me a favor, and for the next ten minutes, use your powers?"
                          
"Alright. Thanks Professor."
                          
"It's not a problem, Emery."
                          
They hung up the phones.
                          
'Hank, I'm going to need you to go get Emery.'
                          
'Sure thing, Charles.'
                          
The Professor went to the Cerebo room and sent her coordinates to Hank's jeep.
                          
~
                          
Emery sat on the swing rocking back and forth without moving her feet from the place she'd rooted them in. Between her hands she rolled a ball of plasma, working it from the size of a marble all the way up to the size of a baseball as slowly as she could. This allowed her to use her abilities and hopefully the Professor could pinpoint her location and someone could come get her. She knew she was about three hours away from the mansion. So, she knew she would have to wait for someone to show up.
                          
 When she tired of playing with the ball of plasma, she dissipated it back down into nothing. She began to swing on the swing. She was angry with herself for falling into her old habit of surrendering to Chet. He'd always been able to charm her, and now she'd let him charm her into kissing him again. Yes, she still loved him; he was her first love after all. However, she would never be able to move past the way he'd hurt her. The air flowing across her body and through her hair actually calmed her down. It was consistent and gentle... the way that Kurt had always been towards her.
                          
She sighed.
                          
Emery hoped Kurt would understand why things had gone the way they had. She'd needed to find out which guy that she actually loved. She'd needed to know which one meant more to her, and she'd found her answer. She didn't understand it; she had no idea how she could have thought Chet was Kurt. They were different people. Kurt was more innocent than Chet... not that being innocent made him gentler or kinder than Chet. Back when she was in a relationship with Chet, he'd been just as gentle and kind as Kurt. Granted, Chet had been innocent too once, but once he had his first taste of sex... well... he couldn't ever seem to get enough of it. That's when he lost his innocent charm; his charm developed into a sexy type of persuasion that she often found herself falling into. But, that wasn't going to happen anymore. Things were completely over between her and Chet; she'd achieved what she came for; she had eased her mind of her conflicting feelings. She would go back to the mansion and to Kurt.
                          
Emery was a little afraid that he would reject her, when he learned what had happened tonight. She wasn't sure how Kurt would feel, or act, around her after this, but she knew he loved her and that was worth facing. She had no idea how to go about talking to him though. She wasn't very good at talking to people; she really didn't like people. But this was Kurt, and she loved him.
                          
She felt her face flush. She did love him though...
                          
It just took a run in with her ex-boyfriend to realize it.
                          
~
                          
An hour later, she sensed someone's presence approaching her. Thanks to what little time she'd spent at the Institute, she'd been able to increase her abilities, if only just a little bit. She looked towards the person, and even in the dark she could tell it was Chet. She immediately stood up.
                          
"What are you doing here?"
                          
"You always liked the park. I should've figured this was where you were headed, but I checked your house first anyway." He kept walking towards her.
                          
"It's not my house anymore."
                          
"That's what your parents said too."
                          
"You talked to them?"
                          
"Yeah, how else was I supposed to find out if you were there or not?" He stopped in front of her.
                          
Emery took a step back. "Look, Chet. Things are over between us."
                          
"Do you really feel that way?"
                          
"Yes, I really do."
                          
"But you kissed me."
                          
"No, you kissed me."
                          
"You still kissed back."
                          
"Force of habit. I was with you a long time. Now we're over."
                          
"I'm not just going to give up on you because you think it's over between us. I've been waiting for you to come back home. Where have you been the last several months?"
                          
"Not here."
                          
"Obviously! Seriously Em, where were you? Where did you sleep? What did you eat? Did anyone hurt you?"
                          
"No one hurt me Chet! Just you!"
                          
He winced. "I said I'm sorry."
                          
"You and your preppy buddies tormented me all year. You expect me just to forget about that?!"
                          
"No."
                          
"You wanted nothing to do with me the second I became a mutant."
                          
"I panicked."
                          
"And I wasn't panicking?"
                          
"Em, I'm really sorry."
                          
"Stop calling me that!"
                          
"Why?"
                          
"Because you're not my boyfriend anymore! Hell, you don't even know me that well anymore."
                          
Chet moved to sit on one of the swings. "I came to ask you to forgive me. Can we just start over? I really do love you, Emery."
                          
Emery stared at him. What was he thinking? Didn't he understand that he was the only person she'd ever trusted? Didn't he understand that the pain from the things he'd said and done would never go away? Didn't he understand her feelings were no longer for him? They were for...
                          
"Kurt."
                          
"What?" Chet asked.
                          
"He's the guy."
                          
"The mutant?"
                          
"Yes."
                          
Chet sat there quiet for a while. Emery sat down on a swing. She watched him, ready to use her powers if she had to.
                          
"He's a mutant."
                          
"I've said that."
                          
"Would you... consider giving me a chance if you knew that I am a mutant too?"
                          
"You're lying."
                          
"I'm not, and I can prove it." He stood up off the swing.
                          
~
                          
Dr. McCoy was about a half hour away from Emery's location when the Professor called the car. He pressed the button on the ceiling that would answer the call.
                          
"We've got trouble," the Professor said. "Cerebo picked up a mutant where Emery is. I don't know this mutant's intentions towards Emery, but she definitely knows he's there."
                          
"I believe the slang 'stepping on it' applies here. I will increase the speed of the car."
                          
"I'm sure she can handle herself but be prepared to fight anyway."
                          
"Will do." Beast pressed the hang-up button.